Life

Humans of HOKA: Kayla Bowker

Triathlon gave this two-time Kona qualifier a sense of purpose and a passion she wants to share with others.

by Don Norcross

The one-bedroom apartment in Spokane, Washington was a dump. Mold seeped from the bathroom walls and neighbors screamed late into the night.

"I’m pretty sure there were drugs involved," says Kayla Bowker.

At 24, Kayla Bowker’s disastrous one-bedroom was a reflection of her emotional state. Working as a physical therapist’s assistant, she had $50 a week to live on after covering her expenses and she wasn’t living up to her mother’s aspirations for her to become a doctor. And to make matters worse, her boyfriend of a year and a half had recently broken up with her.

"I was going through a lot of anger and resentment. I was feeling a lack of control and not liking where my life was going. I felt like I was letting everyone down because I wasn’t where I thought they wanted me to be," says Bowker.

So how did this Gonzaga University cross country and track athlete emerge from her funk? By entering her first triathlon.

"I needed a reason to push hard outside my limits and comfort zone so I could feel again," says Bowker.

And her decision has made all the difference.

Now 29 years old now, she raced at the IRONMAN World Championship last year and qualified for Kona again this year. The sport is not only her passion, but also became her profession. Bowker earned a USAT Level 1 coaching certificate along the way and coaches 14 triathletes and five competitive runners.

For Bowker’s first triathlon in 2013, she borrowed a 1980s touring bike that her mother pedaled through Europe. The bike featured pedal baskets and gear shifters on the stem. She remembers the disbelief on competitors’ faces when the woman with the hand-me-down relic passed them at the Olympic distance event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

"They were like, ‘Holy cow, what are you doing?’" recalls Bowker.

She finished second in her age group at the event, but more than any medal, she remembers the sensation coursing through her body about 20 miles into the bike.

"I can remember it like it was yesterday," she says. "I just remember feeling for the first time. This depression was gone and it was replaced by strength, passion and direction."

Bowker was immediately hooked and quickly rose from novice to Kona qualifier in just three years. But Bowker’s advancement wasn’t without a price. In October 2015, while on pace for a sub-three-hour marathon in Portland, Oregon, she suffered a soft tissue tear around her left hip socket and underwent surgery two months later.

But seven months after the surgery and just 35 days before she was scheduled to make her IRONMAN debut, Bowker was injured again when she was biking and was struck from behind by a distracted motorist.

She suffered a broken left ankle and nerve and tissue damage to her previously injured hip. IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene was off the table.

"She was pretty devastated for a week or so," recalls Kayla’s husband, Robert Bowker. "She didn’t know the extent of her injuries or how scared she’d be getting back on the road."

Yet, less than four months after the bike crash, Bowker lined up for IRONMAN Arizona. Her frustration from the hip surgery and car crash vanished as she had the most memorable run of her life with her family watching.

"There wasn’t an ounce of anger," says Bowker. "All the way I felt strength and pride and passion. I felt this amazing sense of ‘This is what I’m supposed to be doing.’"

Bowker started the day with a goal of 11:15 but was quietly hoping to break 11 hours. At about mile 16, she remembers jubilantly screaming to her mother, "I’m going to go sub-11!"

She shattered 11 hours and finished in 10:15:03. Near mile 22, she caught up to two men and ran stride for stride with them for several miles. Near mile 24, one of the men pulled away and the other faded. Later, one of the men thanked Bowker, saying, "I never would have run this fast if we wouldn’t have hung on to each other."

That was the day Bowker won her age group and qualified for Kona. And her marathon split? 3:28:28. "The biggest piece was my family seeing me," says Bowker. "They were everywhere."

Despite her epic race in Arizona, the IRONMAN World Championship was a disappointment for Bowker. Her goal was 10:30, but she finished in 11:30:09. "The heat got to me," she says. "My body obviously wasn’t ready."

In June, Bowker qualified for a second trip to Kona by finishing second in her age group at IRONMAN Texas. As she begins looking ahead to this year’s trip to the big island, Bowker says, "I have some redemption."

While she’s proud of her own accomplishments, what gives Bowker more satisfaction is the way she can share her enthusiasm for the sport as a coach. "I get to share my passion with other people and help others find the same passion," she says.

"She really has a way to push you out of your comfort zone and help you do what you never thought you could because she has that much belief in you," says Anna O’Donnell, one of Bowker’s clients.

Robert Bowker figures his wife is going to be logging miles on the road and designing training schedules for athletes for years to come. "I think this is going to be part of her until the end of time," says Bowker’s husband.